


crossing paths

by ZephyrEden



Series: let's meet again (in another dream) [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, KHUX - Freeform, self indulgent garbage don't @ me, self inserts without being actual self inserts but are still self inserts???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 16:36:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16391294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZephyrEden/pseuds/ZephyrEden
Summary: you pretend that you're changing, that a new life in an empty room is somehow supposed to make things different, makeyoudifferent. sometimes it's not about changing roads. sometimes it's about meeting someone in the other lane.





	crossing paths

Sukie finds there’s something strangely calming about people watching. She has a good view for it, right from her window overlooking the Second District Market. There’s people talking, buying from the vendors at their tents, familiar wielders laughing with each other while they keep an eye out for any Heartless that want to appear and ruin the townspeople’s day.

It’s dreamy, in a way. She never thought she would get to be someplace like this. Even if she’s alone up in her room, it’s a lot less lonely here when there’s so many people around. A lot less quiet.

Still a bit too empty.

Her eyes leave the window to sweep across the room. She hasn’t been here for very long, she’s spent even less time as a wielder, and aside from the small bag of items she brought with her from home, the room is bare. She doesn’t… mind it, per se, but it feels less like a home and more like a temporary residence.

That’s the part she’s not too fond of.

There’s a flash of light outside that she catches from the corner of her eye that draws her attention back to the window. Her eyebrows knit together as she watches a wielder open a portal in the middle of the market, several of them running through the gateway in a hurry. The townspeople seem unbothered for the most part, used to it.

“Wonder what’s going on,” she mutters under her breath.

There’s a poof of smoke as Chirithy flips into existence, the mattress springs creaking lightly as he lands on top of the bed. “There’s a wave of powerful Heartless appearing in the Corridors of Darkness,” Chirithy explains in answer. “Wielders come together from all the Unions to fight against them.”

Sukie frowns as she looks to Chirithy. “I thought the Unions competed against each other.” She ignores the prickling itch outlining the inked symbol of Vulpes loyalty on her arm.

Chirithy’s expression doesn’t change, it never does, but she feels like he’s struggling to explain. “Yes, they do. Usually, at least. Much like the simulation battles the Unions host for wielders to test their strength in, there’s another way the Unions gather. But instead of fighting each other, we fight with each other. We call them Cross quests. They’re missions that may be hard for a single wielder to do on their own, but together they can accomplish their goals for the betterment of all Unions.”

“Huh…” Sukie hums, thinking those words over before her face lights up. “I wonder if I could find them then!” She hops off the bench and excitedly rushes towards the door. “Come on Chirithy, no time to waste!”

Chirithy waddles after her in confusion. “Who are we looking for?”

Sukie looks over her shoulder and grins. “My friends.”

 

 

 

Sukie’s hands find purchase on her knees, her keyblade dissipating into orbs of light as she pants. The Darkness is heavy in the Corridors, the pressure of it weighing down on her body unnaturally. It’s starting to make her sluggish.

“How are they so used to this?” she grunts, wiping away the sweat that’s dripping down her chin. The Heartless they’ve fought so far are much more powerful than she’s used to, easily Raid level. She doesn’t have much experience with raid bosses yet. That’s something wielders usually take on with their party. Something she doesn’t have.

She grits her teeth and sighs. It’s barely been a month since she came to this town, only three weeks since she first felt the radiant warmth of the keyblade in her hand. It takes time to find a party, to find friends. That’s what she tells herself, at least. She’ll find a party eventually.

“You okay?” a wielder asks, his breathing just as harsh as her own. Maybe he’s new, as well.

Sukie smiles wide and nods, breath hissing through her teeth as she straightens back to full height. “Yeah, I’m good!” she answers cheerfully.

The wielder nods and smiles back. “Good, ‘cause there’s another big one coming. Some of the others were able to stop it up ahead, so if you’re having a rough time don’t feel bad about going back to town. It’s always better to retreat than to watch a comrade fall,” he ends sadly, glancing away as he says it. There’s a heaviness to his words that sounds like it comes from first-hand experience. He looks back to her and his smile looks more forced now. “I’ll probably be heading out after this one.” He starts to run forward, shouting over his shoulder, “Don’t fall too far behind!”

She doesn’t plan to. She can hear yelling from up ahead and starts to jog towards it and it’s not long before she sees the Darkside they’re fighting, its claws sinking into the ground and dredging up pools of darkness around it. One wielder gets drawn into it, their frantic flailing only serving to plunge them deeper as the bulbous forms of Shadows take shape and attack.

Sukie moves with a mixture of panic and instinct. “Duck!”

It only takes the amount of time for their eyes to meet hers. She can feel the pulsating power from a medal flow through her, a strength that isn’t entirely her own taking control as she throws her keyblade. It spins as it slices through the air and the wielder covers their head with their arms, Lady Luck’s precise trajectory sending it right over their head as it slices through the viscous darkness around it.

Sukie catches the keyblade when it returns, both hands gripping the hilt as she moves to a more defensive position. “Are you alright?”

The wielder lets out a sigh of relief. They stand, a little scraped up but no worse for the wear. “Y-yeah, I think so. Tha-“

“Look out!”

Sukie looks over to the voice to find it belongs to the boy from earlier. She follows his line of sight, but it’s already too late. Her eyes widen as she sees the purpling ball of swirling energy between the Darkside’s raised hands.

She freezes.

It’s not like there was much she could do, anyways. Even if she lifted her keyblade to block it, she knows her defenses are nothing compared to the power that was about to crash against her. It’s not supposed to be something one wielder could handle. That’s why they were all here.

Right?

It’s not a surprise that no one comes to her defense. The boy is too far away, the one she helped is barely back on their feet, the other two that were originally holding the Heartless off are having a hard enough time just holding their own. They’ve been fighting for a while now. They’re tired. At some point, teamwork falls apart in favor of self-preservation.

It doesn’t hurt when it hits. She expects it to, she expects to feel pain rupture over her entire body in blistering agony. It doesn’t really feel like that, though. It doesn’t really feel like anything. It’s like she was in her body but now she’s been pushed out of it, floating unbothered in a void away from everything else.

There’s a warmth that comes over her without being very warm at all, like feeling the sun soak into your skin while sitting in snow. It’s warm and cool and refreshing, like the first swim of the summer when the water isn’t quite heated up yet and instead of sinking down to the bottom she’s being pulled up until she breaks through the surface.

She takes a gasping breath as she becomes aware of her body. She manages to land on the ground, her feet unsteady beneath her. She’s disorientated. She can feel the pain now. It’s like her entire body is a bruise, aching and sore.

“Watch yourself before you watch others.”

Sukie shakes her head of the fog that’s still trying to cloud her thoughts. She’s still in the Corridor, the Darkside is still before them and taking the attacks the others are doling out to it. She blinks, looking around until she sees a newcomer walking past her.

She stops, turning around to level a glare at Sukie. “You could at least pretend like you’re listening, you know.”

Sukie’s lips immediately downturn. “I _was_ listening,” she huffs.

The brunette raises an eyebrow. “Oh yeah?”

Sukie opens her mouth to retort, but the words get stuck in her throat as the wielder turns away from her. She watches her raise Starlight defensively, blocking the Shadows that lunged at her only to melt away once they collide against the glimmering keyblade.

The brunette looks back. “Could’ve fooled me.” She leaves it at that, running forward with the other two that seem to be the best fighters in their group. There’s a glow that comes off of them that can only be attributed to medals, but Sukie keeps her eyes on the girl that just spoke to her. Her gaze shifts to the wisps of darkness wafting around her wrist, ones that she knows comes from a bangle that most of them wear. She figures it’s hidden under her wristband.

There’s a blinding clash of illuminated weaponry, the three bodies moving quickly before they land back where they started.

The Darkside falls.

“Good work!” one of them calls out, the other talking to them and the injured wielder animatedly.

The brunette doesn’t respond. She leaves the others behind, moving towards the dark portal that will no doubt lead to another corridor where more Heartless are waiting.

“Are you okay?” the boy asks again. He smiles when Sukie snaps her attention to him, sheepish. “I’m heading out. You can come with me if you want.”

Sukie looks back towards the portal but there’s no one there. She nods. “Thanks.”

“I’m Florian, by the way,” he introduces with a brighter grin, holding his hand out. “You’re in Vulpes, right? I’ve seen you around town.”

Sukie happily returns the handshake, “I’m Sukie. Are you in Vulpes too?”

Florian nods, opening the portal that will send them back to town. “So is Zephyr.”

“Who?” Sukie tilts her head in curiosity as she limps slightly onto the pavement that signals their return to Daybreak Town.

Florian stretches, savoring the warmth of the setting sun. “That girl you were staring at. That’s Zephyr. I’ve teamed up with her on Cross quests before.”

“Oh?” Sukie tries not to sound too interested. “What about, like, uh… party-wise?”

“Nah,” Florian shakes his head. He takes a seat on the edge of the fountain in the center of the square and watches the light disappear over the horizon. “I’ve got my own party and she, well… She’s got a party, but she’s the only one in it. She tends to go solo.”

Yeah, Sukie can pretty easily believe that. But still… “Must get kinda lonely, being like that.”

Florian snorts. “Maybe. Don’t see her eager to join up with anyone else, though.”

An idea sparks in Sukie’s head, one that flickers until it outshines any negative thought that comes to combat it. “Maybe she just needs someone eager to join up with hers.”

Florian’s eyes widen slightly before he shakes his head and laughs, smiling in agreement. “Yeah, maybe.”

 

 

 

It’s only once Sukie waves goodbye to Florian that Chirithy pops back into place at her side. “Did you find who you were looking for?”

Sukie shakes her head. “No, I didn’t. But I think I might have made some new friends.”

“That’s good,” Chirithy nods. “I hope you get to have fun with them.”

“You’ll have fun, too!” Sukie beams. “’Cause you’ll definitely be coming with us. Oh!” Sukie nearly startles herself with the sudden exclamation, but she can’t help herself. Not when there’s a portal opening only a little ways away from her and the brunette from earlier is stepping out of it, yawning as she goes.

“That’s her, that’s her!” Sukie whispers excitedly enough that her voice is hardly quiet. “Zephyr!” She runs towards her, Chirithy struggling to keep up with her speed.

Zephyr flinches, gaze snapping towards the sudden shout. She looks at the pink haired wielder approaching her for a moment before recognition dawns on her. “Oh. From earlier.” She tries not to be bothered by the fact that she knows her name.

Sukie doesn’t slow down the closer she gets and watches the detachment on Zephyr’s face shift to alarm as she jumps the last length of space between them, grabbing her hands and lifting them with her own in her eagerness. “Let me join your party!”

**Author's Note:**

> all the keykids in this series are original characters that belong to me and spacecorgi_
> 
> [twitter](http://twitter.com/deepseasalt_) | [tumblr](http://deepseasalt.tumblr.com) | [carrd](http://zephyreden.carrd.co)


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